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This is the first shipping phone with the S805 right? It'll be interesting to see the performance. There must be some pretty nice power improvements from either there or some software magic to get a 7% increase (according to Samsung) in battery life with an extra 20mah on that 1440p screen.

Looks more impressive than I imagined, but I'm not sold on phablets still. Looking forward to the review from y'all!Reply

Samsung claims the new S-Pen supports Tilt and Rotation! These features were only found in highest end Wacom devices!

The addition of Tilt and Rotation is as significant as the pairing of a 3-axis gyroscope to 3-axis accelerometer! With Tilt and Rotation, it is now possible to fully simulate a pen/brush experience on a digital screen.

I was really hoping MS would introduce Tilt and Rotation to the Surface 3, but I'm guessing Wacom doesn't want the Surface to eat into their ultra expensive Cintiq line. This is probably why Wacom allowed the Note 3 to have tilt and rotation since a 5.5" will never compete against the much larger Cintiqs.Reply

Though in all honesty, I probably won't be buying this phone until early next year. And I will be buying it cash outright. I want to get more information on which variant has the most power, and if the international variant will work fine in the states on Verizon's 4g LTE network.Reply

To me the most interesting aspect of this thing is the new Exynos processor, and yet you guys (of all the places on Internet!) refuse to say a word about it.Apart from the modem, it should be head and shoulders above any other ARM chip at the moment.

As for the Note 4 itself, I am underwhelmed.The fact that Samsung managed to make it larger and heavier while keeping the same screen and battery size, and even failed to make it water resistant is a job bad done in my book.

Note 3 was by far more impressive when it was announced, and I'll happily use it for another year it seems.Reply

I definitely feel the same way. I actually got a note 3 a couple of days ago (cheaper on contract than the note 4 would be, and with full knowledge of this announcement), and I don't feel I should have waited at all after this announcement. Overall, the Note 4 sounds underwhelming.Reply

Yep. No IP67 is a HUGE disappointment. I have a Note2, and was waiting for this feature in the Note4. I love the large screen, but rarely use the pen, so all the focus on that feature was mostly irrelevant to me. Samsung is missing the mark. They need to differentiate themselves by.... providing far better battery life (2+ days) and making it "life-proof" (water, dust, drop resistant). I don't care that it's now even thinner. Make it a few mm thicker and give use these *useful* features!

I guess I'll wait to see if Apple really does announce a "phablet" version of the iPhone next week. Maybe they'll provide IP67. And, if so, I might be convinced to switch back....Reply

I agree. I was going to be first in line but since it left out waterproof (ip67), I will most likely not get this phone. Every phone in the past has always got a bump in battery size but this is the first time a phone didn't. No screen size increase. I'm guessing the weight increase was from the metal. Don't most people use case for their phone that covers this up anyways. Samsung folded under criticism to add metal. Too bad. So the extra cost that would have gone to a bigger battery and water proof features went to a heavier metal case. mistake.Reply

Samsung or Apple? It seems the question of these days, specially after announcing that the awaited iphone 6 will b released next week. If we compare the specs (presumably for iPhone6) with note 4, the device of Apple seems totally inferiorhttp://versus.com/en/samsung-galaxy-note-4-vs-appl...Yes, Apple might surprise us on Tuesday, but it will be difficult to improve that. All expensive smartphones should have AMOLED display, it's the best: resistant, quality of images, thin... I just can say, congrats Samsung!Reply

The naming is a bit unfortunate, the Exynos 5430 in the Galaxy Alpha is a Cortex-A15 32-bit processor. But, if this phone has an Exynos 5433 it is 64 bit according to what's been said about it, as it's a Cortex-A53/57 based SoC.Reply

The Exynos 6xxx series will be a custom ARM processor as far as I remember, as they said (slightly paraphrased) that they were tired of the slow development and recurring issues with ARM reference designs.Reply

The Exynos S name haven't been mentioned since some loose rumours around CES in January, I think. And since everybody says the 5433 is a Cortex A57-based SoC, it would make a lot of sense that they're saving the 6xxx-series for their proprietary architecture.Reply

I'm pretty excited about the Note 3 as a Note 3 owner:- QHD screen with similar improvements as the S5 LTE-A QHD screen sounds as big an improvement over the Note 3 screen as that was over the Note 2 screen. The Note 3 screen is good, but still gives up some in brightness and "white whites" compared to the top LCD screens. And with AMOLED, none of the brightness or power drain issues of LCD 1440p screens.- Metal frame solves my biggest in-hand feel and durability complaint about the Note 3 - that chrome plastic frame chips on everything- Better camera with OIS - should make for much better low light photos where the Note 3 is weak

Ok so when we add all of this together, the only big improvement compared to note 3 is the camera.Other than that, rather unnoticeable sharper screen, basically identical performance (no 64-bit+4GB combo (?)), same battery size, slightly better battery life (according to samsung's PR division), regression in formfactor (it's thicker and heavier !), an strip of aluminum running around and another crapload of software gimmicks to fill up the base 32GB memory capacity.

And I thought samsung will work a lot harder, after not-so-successfull galaxy S5 and especially now when there is a big Huricane right behind the door of mobile industry.Reply

Hope to see an update when you figure out what Exynos SoC it is, it is at least clocked a bit higher than in the Alpha even if it turns out to be just the 5430.Don't really care about the device ,boring enough and way too costly.Reply

- No water resistant- Same battery- More weight- They moved back again the speaker- No USB 3

This is not an upgrade, and I will not pay for this.

OIS + water resistant +3500 mah and I was sold, this, well, they just dropped it and launch a meh device. They don't trully offer nothing over nexus, oppo, xiaomi or so that justify the price, because no one is gonna pay extra +300€ for the spen.Reply

You are right DrKersh. They dropped the ball on this one. Its hard to remember any noticeable new feature upgrades on this phone. I'm gonna go with a used s5. still get the better camera and waterproof. I don't want to get a smaller screen though. Frustrating.Reply

Agree with your views.Water resistance would have been nice.Battery being virtually same size despite much increased screen resolution is a big disappointment.Reverting to usb 2 ? Backwards step in my opinion, hate to think how slow it will transfer multiple GB files via usb2 compared to usb3 of Note 3.

Plus points for me are 805 soc, although I suspect most of the potential performance gains have been cancelled by higher resolution screen.Ois on camera should help with low light photos.

Overall I am uncertain if I will buy Note 4 to replace my Note 3.Reply

Kudos fitting the metal frame into your profit margins Samsung. Now if only you could also fit a custom chipset in for the other 95% of the world, instead of cheap, 3 year old, off-the-shelf Qualcomm parts.Reply

Since you harped a bit on 1 handed usage, you should know that there is a setting that shrinks all screens down to about 4 inches in size. It is quickly and seamlessly toggled off and on with a quick swipe in and out from the edge of the screen. So you can take that off of your complaint list. Reply

I don't see any reason for those who already have the Note 3 to upgrade. Th screen is already "good enough" - it doesn't HAVE to be 1440p. Plus the higher res will drain battery faster which is only slightly improved over the old one.

16MP is better than 13MP but I don't think it will make a huge difference. Image stabilization is the only worthy new feature, but do we want to pay several hundred more for that?

Finally, the more powerful CPU is nice, but completely irrelevant. There is nothing that wont run on the Note 3 that will run on Note 4.Reply

I have a Note 2 and I hate to say it but even *I* don't see any reason to upgrade to this. I get .2" on the screen and a higher resolution, but frankly I've been fine with the Note 2's 720P screen for awhile now, even after looking at a Note 3 when those came out (despite thinking that I'd be "OMG I GOTTA HAVE ONE"....I wasn't).Reply

I guess not everyone who has a Note 3 will be enticed to buy a Note 4 (I own Note 3 and I am still thinking) but calling Note 4 a "disappointment" is obviously a stretch. It is after all the best phone on the market (and iPhone 6 won't change this). Samsung made a lot of improvements with this model:* metal chassis* faster CPU and (especially) GPU* 2x resolution* faster LTE (BTW those who complain that Samsung is not shipping Exynos outside Korea should realize that it has LTE Cat 4 and thus can't be certified in USA because the carriers require better)* finger print sensor* heart rate sensor* OIS

That's a lot of improvements. Granted, considering how good Note 3 (and modern smart phones in general) is, the new changes do not look that compelling. For me personally, metal chassis look attractive (I mean functional). OIS might be helpful (although I mostly use SONY RX100 for P&S shooting). And let's not overlook a finger print sensor. I do not lock my phone at all (and I do not store sensitive data on my phone) but if the sensor works well I might use it for unlocking (as a convenient option - not as a secure one).Reply

Agree completely. Coming from a Galaxy S2 (!) I almost bought the Note 3, but wanted to see what the 4 brought to the table and to me it's very significant. I can't stand the tacky chrome plastic edges that don't wear well at all - looking forward to metal. QHD on a 5.7" screen, especially for pentile AMOLED, will be noticeable. The G3 has horrible contrast, low brightness, and heat / power drain issues...AMOLED QHD will be the way to go IMO. Fingerprint sensor and OIS are huge as well. All non-OIS Samsung cameras take pretty poor low light photos. Obviously won't be as nice as my full frame DSLR, but the phone is always on you unlike the quality camera gear so every improvement there is appreciated. Not understanding all the disappointment for the Note 4. Curious to see how the color accuracy will be when the full review comes out.Reply

You don't have your main email address set up on your phone? I find that hard to believe. That address is all that's needed to reset many passwords for many accounts. I'd call that extremely private info.Reply

I really don't understand the USB 2 port either. USB 3 was quite useful — I could transfer stuff to the fast internal NAND in 5-10 minutes using USB 3 and then transfer it to the Micro SD later when I had time. Rather than wait 30 minutes or more on USB 2.

I've been more than happy with the performance of the Snapdragon 800 in my Note 3, but I'd love to have the Exynos version easy to find in the UK since I'm sure they're still packing a Wolfson CODEC. The Note 3 audio quality is pretty good, but was a large step down from my Note 2 (with the Kernel audio enhancements).

Either way, I'll probably end up getting the Note 4 once the price comes down a little... won't be able to resist ¬_¬Reply

It seems like most of the disappointment is with the slowdown in progress in the entire mobile industry and the fact that the Note 3 was so darned good. Even today, I think it makes a fair argument at being the best, if not one of the best, Android phones available today.

The Note 4 fixes some of the weaknesses of the Note 3 and in nearly every other way, uses the best tech available. I'm not sure what people really wanted.Well executed metal frame, top of the line SOC with 3GB RAM, 16MP camera with OIS, the best pen experience by a mile over other phones, the best screen hands down today (doesn't have the same brightness, contrast, and power draw issues of the G3).

I would have liked IP certification as well, but every phone we've seen to gain it has increased noticeably in size. The S5 is considerably bigger than the S4 and the Xperia phones have always been very big for their screen size. As a Note user, I'm actually glad they didn't increase the size of the phone further to gain IP certification.

The loss of USB 3.0 is really the only downside and really not a problem 99% of the time. How often does one move multi-gig files onto their phone. I do it once every month or so when I swap out 30gigs of movies onto my sdcard and the sd card has always been the limiting factor, not USB 2.0.Reply